EU tells Turkey 'not acceptable' to exclude Cyprus from COP31 briefing - The Korea Times

The Euronext stock exchange at the La Defense business district in Paris, France, Jan. 27, 2025. Reuters-Yonhap

BRUSSELS — The European Union (EU) on Thursday said it was "not acceptable" that Turkey excluded Cyprus from a recent briefing at the United Nations in New York about the COP31 climate conference.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Turkish invasion followed a coup in Nicosia backed by Greece's then-military junta. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognised only by Ankara.

The internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union, controls the island's majority Greek Cypriot south but is not recognised by Turkey -- which will host November's COP31 conference in the southern city of Antalya.

"We have made it clear that the exclusion of a United Nations member state from the preparation process of the UN COP31 climate conference is not acceptable," EU spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told reporters in Brussels.